Hi
I really enjoy seeing clinic patients everyday. I don't like the wards at all. Is it possible to just be a clinic doctor and still make a living.

Absolutely! Many family practice and internal medicine docs do this in private practice. In part though, it depends on what you mean by "make a living." You might only make $80,000-100,000 in private practice, but if you're smart about the way you run your business you can actually make quite a bit more, and do so without being pressured to spend only 5 minutes per patient and work long hours. Or you might find an established practice to join if you don't have much of a business sense, but you need to make sure you know what you're getting into if you take this route.

How do you ensure that you make more?

How do you ensure that you make more?

If you have business saavy then you offer products at your clinic that people could buy.

You could also develop a relationship with schools or businesses to be their source for check-ups or advising. There are many avenues that you can follow while still maintaining your dignity.

That $80-100K figure is a little on the lower side. Those figures are more correct for Academic primary care docs in desirable cities. There is a lot of geographic variation in PCP salaries. For example, in LA (where we used to live), a community outpatient internists more likely makes about $120K. However, in my dad's group in Dallas, there are FPs that only see clinic patients approaching $200K annually. The payer mix (more private insurance and less medicaid/cal) and overhead costs (#of office staff/office space,etc.) and number of patients you see (must see ~20/day to meet overhead in a city environment) contribute a lot to your income. Those in group practices tend to share overhead, so all things being equal, they will see more $$ than a solo doc. Keep in mind that if you are willing to live in the middle of nowhere, you can make significantly more. There are outliers that make $400K who also work like dogs, but I think the $80-100K figure represents an outlier as well.